10 Best Flight Apps

By John Brandon, LAPTOP Contributor | Apr 24, 2013 03:25 PM EDT

Heading out to the airport? Before you go, make sure you load up your smartphone or tablet with these helpful apps. You can track flight departures and arrivals, let people know when you touch down and even chat with other folks on the same flight.

TripIt (Free; Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry)

Another indispensable tool for flight travel, Tripit is a very cool itinerary management app. You email your travel plans to a TripIt inbox and can check on flight times, share your travel plans on social networks (Facebook or LinkedIn), check local weather and pick local eateries. The big benefit is in getting advice from fellow travelers. Once you share an itinerary, you can get advice on what to see and do. An ad-free Pro option is available for $49 per year, offering on-the-go flight alerts.

I came across your old article “10 Best Flight Apps” at “http://blog.laptopmag.com/best-flight-apps”. Good article and references to all the tools. Did not know there were so many.

I do have a question. Where do these different mobile apps get their real-time data from !!!! Is it public information or do I have to subscribe to it ? I have recently started writing mobile apps for Android and this has been one of those things that I have not been able to figure out.